Related Summaries

Biodiesel, the fastest-growing U.S. biofuel, has seen production jump 64% domestically and 17% globally, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The report noted a slight decline in natural-gas and petroleum consumption despite an overall energy consumption increase of 2.4%.

The rapid shale natural gas development in the U.S. will enable the country to attract more energy traders than China, which is the world's top oil importer, according to executives at an industry summit. "The shale gas boom and plentiful supply of gas have created a series of very interesting and complex knock-on effects," said Daniel Jaeggi, co-founder of Mercuria. Compared with China, which offers little business for traders, the U.S. provides "hugely efficient" opportunities for profit as refineries enhance production and increase their exports, said Gunvor CEO Torbjorn Tornqvist.

The Obama administration needs to speed up the approval process for liquefied natural gas export plants amid a boom in gas production, several lawmakers wrote in a letter to Energy Secretary Steven Chu. "With the discovery of vast shale plays in certain parts of our country, many states and regions are now enjoying the benefits of their own natural-gas production," the lawmakers said. Such exports would not only generate jobs but also help trim the trade deficit, they added.

Hydraulic fracturing is safe because it is covered by federal and state-level regulations, writes Tom Amontree, executive vice president of America's Natural Gas Alliance. The natural gas industry is also showing its commitment to safer practices through the FracFocus.org website, where fracking chemicals are publicly disclosed, Amontree says. "Americans don't have to choose between environmental safety and the benefits [of] natural-gas development ... this clean, abundant and domestic energy resource can provide affordable and secure energy to American families for generations to come," Amontree adds.

New technology that can extract natural gas from shale beds has revived the production of natural gas in the U.S. Domestic natural-gas production increased 8.8% in the first five months of 2008, the largest increase in 49 years. Natural gas, the cleanest fossil fuel, releases fewer emissions than oil or coal.